Monday, July 14, 2014

Crazy temperature advisory

Perhaps we need a new alert in the meteorology world: crazy temperature advisory! This week will be quite unusual for Kansas in July, but I've already had a dozen or more people tell me they are excited about it. I know I'm excited to have some lows in the 50s and comfortable 70s during the day, but you might not be so excited if you are taking swimming lessons this week. Brrr...

So what is going on with this madness? There is a high amplitude weather pattern going on right now, so while we cool down significantly, some places are heating up rather significantly. One extreme is pushing up against another extreme, and we just happen to find ourselves on the cooler side this week. There is an unusually strong "L" spinning over the Great Lakes that is helping to push this cool air farther south, and it will go all the way down into the southern US by midweek.

Large bends in the jet stream, resulting in more dramatic shifts in weather

Just the opposite of a high amplitude pattern would of course be a "low" amplitude pattern where the jet stream has basically flatten out more, resulting in less dramatic shifts in weather. (You can click on any image to make it larger)

The pattern, or jet stream, doesn't bend north or south quite as far, which is a lower amplitude pattern.

We will also get some more rain this week with the cooler than average temperatures. A storm system approaching from the northern Rockies will spread rain across western Kansas Tuesday night, and the rest of us will have a better chance on Wednesday. It's doubtful if we will even have thunderstorms. Instead, just some regular ol' rain.

Widespread rain is expected into Wednesday.

Enjoy the cooler weather because next week, July heat will be back... and maybe in a big way. We will see.